A trio of bumbling bungee instructors who hurled a student off a bridge without a rope attached claimed they “can’t remember” who was tasked with tethering her.
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, plummeted to her death off Brazil’s 130-foot Skeleton Bridge — while her fiancé watched in horror — after Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42, and Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27, forgot to secure the bungee cord.
The instructors admitted to investigators that they “blacked out” and couldn’t remember who was supposed to attach the safety line.
In newly released interrogation footage obtained by EPTV, the instructors discuss their alleged involvement leading up to Rodrigues de Freitas’ fatal plunge.
Feliciano Egoroff told authorities that he and Fernandes Cintra were responsible for attaching the rope, but claimed he “can’t remember” the moments after he took the lead while inching Rodrigues de Freitas to the edge.
“After that, it erased from my mind,” he said.
Fernandes Cintra, meanwhile, brought up the rear of the trio and was holding Rodrigues de Freitas by her feet. He said the trio would typically flip-flop between who tethered the rope.
“It’s us three on the job. I can’t understand at what moment I didn’t see the rope,” Fernandes Cintra said.
“I simply cannot understand.”
The rope lay limp on the bridge as Rodrigues de Freitas disappeared over the ledge. A witness recording her dive panned the camera over to the rope in apparent disbelief, shouting, “Guys, the rope!”
Rodrigues de Freitas was also given a GoPro to capture the jump from her point of view. De Freitas Gonçalves told investigators that they “don’t know” where the camera is.
A nurse who rushed to treat Rodrigues de Freitas revealed that the aspiring physical education teacher was somehow still alive when they found her, but died from her horrific injuries soon after.
The three men were charged with homicide and remain in pre-trial detention.
Two of them reportedly tried to flee the bridge before being tracked down by a military helicopter in a nearby wooded area, according to local media. Seen as flight risks, they were all denied bond.
Three additional suspects who also worked at the jump center were taken into custody, but later released.
